The Vine: June 9, 2025
“Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing”
This is a weekly reflection on the previous week’s sermon text. Each week there will be a devotional related to the scripture for the week, along with questions for reflection/discussion, as well as prayer. Feel free to make this a part of your individual spiritual growth throughout the week or utilize in small group settings (growth groups, Sunday school, etc.)
“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
This scripture tells one of the most dramatic stories in the Bible. Blowing violent wind inside a house. Fire. Tongues and Foreign Languages. Utter amazement. Total bewilderment. Weird. Wild. No wonder everyone was amazed and perplexed, asking, “What does this mean?” When it comes to Pentecost, most of us wonder the same thing.
Pentecost was one of three major pilgrimages for the Jews. Thousands of faithful would travel from all over the world to Jerusalem 50 days after Passover to celebrate the harvest of the first fruits. God chose this day to fulfill the promise spoken by the prophet Joel (2:28-32) and Jesus.
“Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit...But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everyone—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:4,8)
Here Jesus is clear the Holy Spirit is a gift from the Father; it is not something earned or achieved by human effort but given freely to all his children. John Wesley put it this way, “The Holy Spirit is not given because we deserve it, but because God’s grace offers it freely.”
And what a gift it is! Jesus promises the disciples that they will receive power (literally dumanis in Greek, “dynamite”). This is the same Holy Spirit that hovered over the face of the waters and brought our planet then Adam to life, and he is the same Spirit that descended on Jesus bodily in the form of a dove at his baptism. It is the same Spirit that that rose Jesus from the dead and the same Spirit that births us into God’s family as his children.
On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit gave birth to the church and transformed the lives of the disciples forever. Peter was so transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit that the fearful one who once denied even knowing Jesus now fearlessly preached the story of Jesus and saw the conversion of 3,000 in just one day (Acts 2:41). Peter and the others were filled with boldness to proclaim the story of Jesus.
Likewise, the first believers were transformed into an inclusive, extravagantly loving, and incredibly generous fellowship living in awe of God’s goodness as they worshipped, prayed, and broke bread together daily. Henry Nouwen, the Dutch Catholic priest and writer, describes the importance of Pentecost like this:
Without Pentecost the Christ-event – the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus – remains imprisoned in history as something to remember, think about and reflect on. The Spirit of Jesus comes to dwell within us, so that we can become living Christs here and now.
In other words, if Bethlehem was God with us, the Cross was God for us, then Pentecost is God in us.
The Day of Pentecost is a Day of Promise for all of us. The Holy Spirit has been poured out in our lives. We now host the mystery and majesty of God within us.
May God’s presence and power lives in and through us for the glory of God. Come, Holy Spirit!
Prayer:
Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may be holy. Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work may be holy. Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, to love what is holy. Amen. (Prayer of St Augustine)
Questions for Reflection:
1) In the Apostles Creed we affirm, “I believe in the Holy Spirit...” What do you believe about the Holy Spirit? Why is the Holy Spirit sometimes harder to understand than the Father and the Son?
2) What do you think the early disciples were thinking and feeling when the sound of a violent wind came and tongues of fire settled on them? Are there other places in the Bible where God has appeared in wind or fire? How is this experience alike or difference?
3) Luke writes, “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” Read the passage again for clues to what the disciples saying to the foreigners in their own language. What was the significance of this?
4) One of the oldest prayers of the church is, “Come, Holy Spirit.” Sit quietly and offer this prayer of humble surrender before God today.
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